Full-on touring tire recommendations?

[PhilBiker]

I'm commuting on my bike, not sport riding, and I need new tires.  This time I'm looking for full-on touring rubber, Goldwing style.  My local shop has recommended Michelin "Pilot Road" and Metzeler "ME880" tires.  I was wondering what some of the high mileage faithful on STN recommend?  How about the Michelin Macadam 100x?

Edit: In the past I would have searched for this information.......

[Lawn Dart]

Phil,

The ME 880 (aka, Marathon) tires are pretty much the longest lasting tire on the market.  It's not uncommon to hear of people gettting 16k miles out of a set.  Just be warned that they use very hard rubber that, reportedly, doesn't handle all that great nor does it stick particularly well in the wet.

Next best choice would be the Pilot Road.  Commuting should get you 10k out of a set while offer much better performance than the Marathons.  Excellent wet and dry stick, excellent tires.  They are a bit slow handling but that's not really an issue for commuting.

Personally, I'd go with (and have gone with) the PR for commuting - I ride in the wet and I just won't take any chances with tires that won't give me a solid platform in the wet.

[servicerifle]

Based on my experience with the Pilot Roads, you won't be happy with their commuting life if your bike has any horsepower at all (I'm not good at visual ID so I have no idea what you have in that avatar).  They wear better than race tires I'm sure, but they're not what I would call a purely commuting tire.

I have finally almost stopped flat-spotting tires now that I'm not commuting as much, but I have prematurely worn out many a rear already due to that abuse.  I thought about gettting another rear rim and having a touring tire mounted just for that reason.  (SSSA lends itself to tire swapping).  

Personally I'd think switching to a touring tire would be smart.  Just do lots of "testing" with it after it's scrubbed in so you aren't surprised by it later.

[beatnikmike]

Metzler ME 880    best touring tire I've  found.  More neutral and sticky than the Avon Venom X. (which is good tire) I love the ME 880.  Both of the above tires are better than any Dungflop I ever used.

PS.... I expect around 14k out of a set of ME 880 tires

[cbrrash]

hello I have run 2 sets of PR's and have been happy with the results. I got about 7000 out of the first rear and am currently at 6500 on the second with I'd say 25% tread left I got about 9500 out of the front. I commute and sport tour I love the way they stick to the road and work well in the wet as long you heat them up before any serious leans in the corners. They are not a PP but as long as know that up front they will work well and provide confidence to trust them chciken strips of less than a 1/32 on the sides. I run a CBR 1100XX hope this helps I run 38 in the rear 36 in the front for pressures for long trips I up it 2 psi on each end

[PhilBiker]

Based on my experience with the Pilot Roads, you won't be happy with their commuting life if your bike has any horsepower at all (I'm not good at visual ID so I have no idea what you have in that avatar). They wear better than race tires I'm sure, but they're not what I would call a purely commuting tire.

It's a '95 Kawasaki GPz-1100.  About 110-112 rear wheel HP when new depending on which magazine's dyno you want to believe.  Lots o' torque, too.  It's a non-ram air slightly downtuned ZX-11 motor.  Not a HP heavyweight by today's standards, but not exactly wimpy either.  And the bike is heavy - 527lb published dry weight I believe.

Next best choice would be the Pilot Road.  Commuting should get you 10k out of a set while offer much better performance than the Marathons.  Excellent wet and dry stick, excellent tires.  They are a bit slow handling but that's not really an issue for commuting.

Personally, I'd go with (and have gone with) the PR for commuting - I ride in the wet and I just won't take any chances with tires that won't give me a solid platform in the wet.

Well, given that recommendation I'd just put another set of the Continental ContiForce tires (or whatever the replacement is) on this bad boy.  They're under $250 per set (I buy tires from my local shop, I don't mind supporting them financially) and work exceptionally well on my bike, especially in the wet.  I'm at the end of life for my third pair and I absolutely love them.  I've got to check my records to see how many miles I'm getting out of them.

I should have mentioned, I love the Continental ContiForce tires I've been running.  Love love love them.  I'm on my third set.  Great dry performance and the best wet performance I've ever experienced.  I just want more mileage is all.

I forgot to mention my commute is 35 miles each way (70 round trip) and I intend to commute through the winter.

[chiller]

It's a '95 Kawasaki GPz-1100. About 110-112 rear wheel HP when new depending on which magazine's dyno you want to believe. Lots o' torque, too. It's a non-ram air slightly downtuned ZX-11 motor. Not a HP king by today's standards, but not exactly wimpy either. And the bike is heavy - 527lb published dry weight I believe.Well, given that recommendation I'd just put another set of the Continental ContiForce tires (or whatever the replacement is) on this bad boy. They're under $250 per set (I buy tires from my local shop, I don't mind supporting them financially) and work exceptionally well on my bike, especially in the wet. I'm at the end of life for my third pair and I absolutely love them. I've got to check my records to see how many miles I'm getting out of them.
 
I should have mentioned, I love the Continental ContiForce tires I've been running. Love love love them. I'm on my third set. Great dry performance and the best wet performance I've ever experienced. I just want more mileage is all.
 
I forgot to mention my commute is 35 miles each way (70 round trip) and I intend to commute through the winter.

 
IMHO, its all a matter of how you ride, if you are on the gas hard all the time no tire is going to last long for you...
 
i ride an ST1300, similar in horsepower to your bike, mine however weighs even more then yours, easily topping you by 150lbs plus luggage in the saddle bags......
 
i commuted highway (50 miles 1 way commute), cruised across the continent and came back and alot of constant speeds...my ST1300 i used a set of pilot roads for 23,000km (roughly 14,500miles) and i still had rubber to go both front and rear, both were not on wear bars yet, i'm guestimate that i had another 3-4000km to go easily on them...i changed them out to BT020's for a trip coming up at the time...
 
my friend had the same tires on his VFR and he only got about 16000km (10000miles) on them before needing replacement, however I think he's not as smooth on the gas and brake...i think its all in how you are on the right hand, not even have to be riding slow (i ride fast) but its how smooth you are...

[vguy]

Even though I'm still pissed at Michelin for the stunt they pulled at the Indy F1 race, I must recommend the PRs.
Dunlop 220 rear ... 2K
Mich PR rear ... 6K

[chornbe]

I'm commuting on my bike, not sport riding, and I need new tires.  This time I'm looking for full-on touring rubber, Goldwing style.  My local shop has recommended Michelin "Pilot Road" and Metzeler "ME880" tires.  I was wondering what some of the high mileage faithful on STN recommend?  How about the Michelin Macadam 100x?

Edit: In the past I would have searched for this information.......

I've used ME880s on several bikes - I was a loyal devotee for years - and have nothing but praise. Long life, sticky grip, good wet weather performance. Can't go wrong.

I now have Pilot Roads on my FJR. They work wonderfully; I can't personally speak to their longevity yet, but I did buy them based on others' recommendations of long(er) life (than stock) and good adhesion. They are cold-weather tempermental.

[maddjack]

I'm commuting on my bike, not sport riding, and I need new tires. This time I'm looking for full-on touring rubber, Goldwing style. My local shop has recommended Michelin "Pilot Road" and Metzeler "ME880" tires. I was wondering what some of the high mileage faithful on STN recommend? How about the Michelin Macadam 100x?
 
Edit: In the past I would have searched for this information.......

I run Me880's on my Kawasaki Nomad,I can say nothing But good about this tire having tried every major competitor there is,I gat on average 12k out of a rear and half as much again on a front.Wet weather Perfomance is very good and they even stick in colder weather.

[Ant]

Haha, a mix of opinions on these ME880 tyres! I'm looking to replace the BT020s on my Bandit because I've squared them off after 6500 miles. I do a lot of commuting on my bike and touring however I'm not so much of a speak freak dragging every bit of my bike and body around corners etc
 
So do we think we can come to a conscensus regarding the grip of the ME 880s because the fact that everyone agrees on their longevity leads me to think that they might be the tyres for me. I ride all year around and in all weather (I'm in the UK after all) so I need a tyre that will keep the bike upright when riding in wet conditions.
 
I'm also tempted by the pilot roads but am a little concerned about their longevity - can anyone give me any comparisons with the BT020 as that is the only tyre I've had any experience with!

[stinky93071]

Pilot Roads(2 compound tire softer on sides then mid)
continenta road attack (softer then force)
continental Force

these are the tires I had on my 94 cbr 1000 and all worked well and lasted a long time.

[maddjack]

Haha, a mix of opinions on these ME880 tyres! I'm looking to replace the BT020s on my Bandit because I've squared them off after 6500 miles. I do a lot of commuting on my bike and touring however I'm not so much of a speak freak dragging every bit of my bike and body around corners etc
 
So do we think we can come to a conscensus regarding the grip of the ME 880s because the fact that everyone agrees on their longevity leads me to think that they might be the tyres for me. I ride all year around and in all weather (I'm in the UK after all) so I need a tyre that will keep the bike upright when riding in wet conditions.
 
I'm also tempted by the pilot roads but am a little concerned about their longevity - can anyone give me any comparisons with the BT020 as that is the only tyre I've had any experience with!

I second road attacks( although others here differ on opinon on those also),I have had great experiance on my speed triple with them inc LOTS of wet /rain riding . If you get 6500 out of a BT020 you'll get much more out of these.A bunch of the local RAT and BMW people here are running them (RA"S)and Like them. The Me 880 is a superslab tire,I run my Kawa commuting on the aforementioned slab so thats why I run those on it,they grip well holding a 798# touring bike dragging the floor boards,but no bets on a naked sportbike with them on:lol:

[PhilBiker]

I've decided I'm going to try the Metzeler 880s.  Thanks for the advice everyone.

[sportridertex]

I'm using 880's on my BMW,about 5,000 miles so far, seem like i'm going to get a lot of life out of them, I had a beautiful ZX-11 that I used Dunlop 220's on, I was able to get 10,000 miles on it.
 
I'm not sure what I'm going to use on on my ZX-12 on the next tire change, might go with the Dunlop 220's.

[Ant]

And I've just gone for the road attacks, bit stickier since I don't do as much commuting. We'll see! Cheers from me for the advice

[Kootenanny]

continenta road attack (softer then force, 2 compound tire softer on sides then mid)

First I've heard of RAs being 2-compound tires.  Not putting them down--I love mine, have a second set waiting to be installed over the winter--but I don't think they're a two-compound tire (mine have certainly worn out in the center of the rear, while the front is worn out on the sides--I don't commute, ride mostly twisty mountain roads with some longer distance sport-touring thrown in).

If I was looking for a pure commuter tire, I'd probably be looking at something a bit harder than the RAs--maybe PRs after all...

[stinky93071]

my bad that is what i get for not rereading what i type that was to be up on the PR

[meatwitheyes]

Metzeler ME880 good choice

[GRN]

PR's are OK in general, great in water, I beat the crap out of them in the twisties and get 6-7K (usually wear off the sides before the middle)... I know other ST13 owners getting 10-12K who ride a more conservative touring style. The 880's are designed more specifically for your application, great choice, ride safe.